Motivation

Motivation. It's the one thing every person trying to lose weight wants. We ask how to get it and how to keep it. We blame our lack of motivation as the reason we fail to stick with our weight loss plan. We are convinced it's the key to our success, but what really is motivation? How do we find it and keep it? 

The dictionary defines motivation as, "a motivating force, stimulus, or influence." It's what keeps us driven to reach our goals. It can be very different for each of us. Some common motivators include: Wanting to fit into smaller clothes, losing weight for a wedding, reunion, etc., to improve our health, wanting to look good for vacation, and the list could go on and on. While all of these are good motivators, we often overlook the most obvious and perhaps the biggest motivator of all...simply knowing we are on track and following the program we are using for health and weight loss. 

I feel the most motivation when I'm honestly following the Weight Watchers plan as it was written and meant to be followed. Being on track is the greatest motivator of all, because when I am doing well, and I know I'm doing well, it feels great and that is the number one thing that motivates me to keep going.

So, the next time you wonder how to get motivated and stay motivated, think of a time when you were on track with your weight loss plan and were taking it seriously. How did you feel? Remember the feeling of being in control of food rather than having it control you? Eating healthy, choosing wisely what to put in our mouth, and making time to plan and prepare are the things that bring about true motivation. 

 Give it a try for a week and see if your motivation is soaring by the end of the week. That is my personal goal for the week; to stay on track and follow the plan as it is written. Not making exceptions or tweaking it to suit me, but just doing it the way it's supposed to be done. It's always the best motivator of all!